Grounding clips of the general aforenoted type are wellknown in the art as exemplified by means of the grounding clip illustrated and disclosed within U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,384 which issued to Ernest William Reinwall, Jr. on Jun. 14, 1977 and which is assigned to the assignee of the present patent application. As illustrated in the noted patent, and as can be appreciated from FIGS. 1 and 2 of the present patent application drawings, the prior art grounding clip is generally indicated by the reference character 10 and includes a base section 12, a first set of upstanding arms or blade members 14 and 16, and a second set of upstanding arms or blade members 18 and 20. The arms or blade members 14 and 16 are laterally spaced with respect to each other so as to define a vertical passageway 28 therebetween, and arms or blade members 18 and 20 are similarly spaced with respect to each other so as to likewise define another vertical passageway 28 therebetween. The arms or blade members 14-20 are provided with coined sections 32 defined upon upper surfaces thereof which are disposed opposite to or face each other whereby such sections 32 effectively define cutting surfaces for piercing peripheral portions of the insulation 34 disposed about the central conductor wire 36 of the insulated conductor 30. As the insulated conductor 30 is inserted between the oppositely disposed arms or blade members 14-20 and is particularly moved downwardly into the vertical passageways 28, the coined cutting edges 32 of the arms or blade members 14-20 penetrate the conductor insulation 34. The arms or blade members 16 and 20 are also provided with notched regions 38 within which peripheral portions of the conductor wire 36 are seated such that the peripheral portions of the conductor wire 36 are securely grasped or engaged by three circumferentially spaced sections of the arms or blade members 14-20.
As can be particularly appreciated from FIG. 2 of the present patent application drawings, the prior art grounding clip also has a spring clip member 24 integrally formed with the base section 12 by means of which the connector 10 can be secured at a fixed location upon an appliance panel 22, the base section 12 engaging the upper surface of the appliance panel 22 while the clip member 24 engages the undersurface of the panel 22. In particular, the clip member 24 is provided with a pair of spaced barbs or prongs 26 which engage the underside of the panel 22 so as to prevent unauthorized removal of the grounding clip or connector 10 from the panel 22 while readily facilitating or permitting the grounding clip connector 10 to be mounted upon the panel 22, that is, the grounding clip connector 10 can be easily mounted upon the panel 22 when the connector 10 is moved, relative to the panel 22, in the direction of arrow A, however, removal of the connector 10 from the panel 22 is effectively prevented when the connector 10 is attempted to be moved relative to the panel 22 in the direction of the arrow B, as seen in FIG. 2.
While the aforenoted grounding clip connector 10 has in fact been quite commercially successful and has exhibited the intended and expected mounting and removal operational characteristics noted hereinabove when the connector 10 has been utilized in connection with most appliance panels, it has been discovered that when such a connector 10 is utilized in connection with a relatively thin appliance panel, the holding or retention power, or resistance to removal, of the connector 10 with respect to the appliance panel, when the connector 10 is subjected to a force operating in the direction of arrow B, such as, for example, when an inadvertent force is impressed upon the insulated conductor 30, is not always sufficient to retain the connector 10 upon the appliance panel whereupon the connector 10 has unintentionally and undesirably become disengaged from the appliance panel.
Referring now to FIG. 3, a second type of known prior art grounding clip connector is illustrated and is generally indicated by the reference character 110. The grounding clip connector 110 is adapted to be mounted upon an edge portion of an appliance panel 122 in a manner similar to that of the grounding clip connector 10 of FIG. 2, however, in addition to the pair of laterally spaced barbs or prongs 126, only one of which is shown, provided upon a lower base section 127 of the connector 110 for engaging the under-surface of the appliance panel 122, a second pair of laterally spaced barbs or prongs 129, only one of which is shown, are integrally provided upon an upper section 131 of the connector 110 for engaging the upper surface of the appliance panel 122. A conductor wire 130 is secured to the connector 110 by means of a crimped section 133 of the connector 110 which is integrally formed with the upper and base sections 131 and 127 of the connector 110.
While the aforenoted grounding clip connector 110 has likewise been commercially successful, difficulties have also been encountered in connection with such a connector 110 when the connector 110 is mounted upon a relatively thin appliance panel, that is, premature or unintentional and undesirable disengagement of the connector 110 from the appliance panel have been encountered when a force, acting in the direction of arrow B, is, for example, impressed upon the conductor wire 133 due to an insufficient retention power or removal resistance of the grounding clip connector 110 with respect to the appliance panel.
A need therefore exists in the art, to which the present invention is directed, for a new and improved grounding clip connector which exhibits a sufficiently high retention force or removal resistance with respect to an appliance panel upon which the grounding clip connector is mounted such that the grounding clip connector will not be prematurely, unintentionally, and undesirably disengaged from the appliance panel when an external force is impressed upon the conductor wire operatively connected to the grounding clip connector, particularly in the instance that the particular appliance panel, upon which the grounding clip connector is mounted, is a relatively thin appliance panel.